Smart Cities Council Launches Movement

Itron Inc. announced the official launch of the Smart Cities Council, which is dedicated to creating smart, sustainable cities with high-quality living and high-quality jobs. As a founding member and lead partner, Itron joins other global leaders, including Cisco, IBM, GE, Microsoft and AT&T, in supporting and promoting the Council’s mission.

The Smart Cities Council was founded to address the unprecedented challenges facing the world’s cities. Confronted with and driven by the trends of accelerated population growth and increasingly constrained resources, cities will seek new strategies and tools to build strong economic centers, while accommodating the influx of people drawn to cities to live and work. The Council aims to equip city leaders with fresh approaches to policy, governance, development and technology that enable long-term livability, workability and sustainability.

“People have built communities around energy and water for ages. Past generations have extracted more energy or more water to accommodate growing populations. This is simply not possible given the scale and urgency of today’s challenges. We must be more strategic, more resourceful and more innovative than ever before,” said Russ Vanos, Itron’s senior vice president of strategy and business development.

The Smart Cities Council will develop targeted resources for core city departments and functions, including environment, economic development, energy, health and human services, public safety and security, transportation, waste, and water and wastewater. Based on their areas of expertise, project teams from lead partner companies contribute to Council resources, whether tools for citizen engagement, financing and procurement, policy framework and roadmapping, or publications such as the SCC Readiness Guide, case studies, white papers and website content.

Vanos adds, “By enabling cities to better manage energy and water resources, Itron firmly believes that, with sufficient collaboration and foresight, we can help cities not only adapt to and overcome obstacles, but also thrive. By drawing on today’s best minds and technology, the Smart Cities Council and its members are committed to achieving just that.”